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Australia: Land Beyond Time Page #3
00:
23:07,083 -- 00:23:08,124Drought
165
00:
23:08,333 -- 00:23:11,582lt can last for months
or years at a time
166
00:
23:12,000 -- 00:23:16,624Long periods without
rain push all life to the limit
167
00:
23:29,041 -- 00:23:32,874The young and the old
are first to feel the effects
168
00:
23:36,916 -- 00:23:42,457Clear skies parched earth and searing
heat become the rule of life
169
00:
23:43,958 -- 00:23:47,665Some will perish before the next rains come
170
00:
23:56,333 -- 00:23:58,207Now the kangaroos of the desert
171
00:
23:58,416 -- 00:24:02,624call on another remarkable strategy
for survival
172
00:
24:07,250 -- 00:24:10,874The female can halt the growth
of her developing embryo
173
00:
24:11,083 -- 00:24:15,499keeping it in a state of suspension
until conditions improve
174
00:
24:15,708 -- 00:24:18,957Only then will she give birth
175
00:
24:24,291 -- 00:24:29,249For the joey already born
the future is now uncertain
176
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24:31,291 -- 00:24:36,165But the unborn embryo will be ready
when good times return
177
00:
24:43,583 -- 00:24:48,124Surviving kangaroos will either move
to new territory in search of food
178
00:
24:48,333 -- 00:24:54,374or batten down near remaining waterholes
while at least some grass remains
179
00:
25:09,791 -- 00:25:13,457Emu families
have a similar hard choice to make
180
00:
25:13,666 -- 00:25:17,415Whatever they decide it will be a gamble
181
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25:40,791 -- 00:25:43,082Relief from drought is unpredictable
182
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25:43,291 -- 00:25:47,332from where it is needed
183
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25:47,958 -- 00:25:50,415Each year the tropical wet season
brings storms
184
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25:50,625 -- 00:25:53,999and flooding to Australia's far north
185
00:
25:57,208 -- 00:26:03,457As the monsoon unfurls curtains of rain
a transformation begins
186
00:
26:37,166 -- 00:26:41,790As the wetlands fill crocodiles emerge
from scattered waterholes
187
00:
26:42,000 -- 00:26:45,832where they've been confined
during the dry season
188
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26:46,083 -- 00:26:48,582the high water level
189
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26:48,791 -- 00:26:51,707and lay up to 100 eggs
190
00:
26:59,875 -- 00:27:05,790Vast networks of wetlands that have been
dry since last season are flooded again
191
00:
27:24,916 -- 00:27:31,040Sometimes this powerful event
can also transform Australia's arid centre
192
00:
27:34,708 -- 00:27:38,165ln years when rains are heavier
and more widespread than usual
193
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27:38,375 -- 00:27:42,707to the parched interior
194
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28:04,458 -- 00:28:08,457Slowly heading south
water spreads across the plains
195
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28:08,666 -- 00:28:13,499ln six months or more
it may reach the centre of the continent
196
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28:48,541 -- 00:28:52,415Under cloudless skies
the water creeps quietly inland
197
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28:52,625 -- 00:28:55,957filling hundreds of dry waterways
198
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29:14,125 -- 00:29:18,749millions of tiny drought resistant eggs
199
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29:18,958 -- 00:29:21,624like seeds are waiting
200
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29:28,333 -- 00:29:33,249Subterranean life that may have been dormant
201
00:
29:42,666 -- 00:29:44,332Stimulated by seeping water
202
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29:44,541 -- 00:29:48,749the burrowing frog
awakes from its long sleep
203
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29:50,958 -- 00:29:55,457Carefully it parts the membrane that has
kept it moist through the drought
204
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30:03,666 -- 00:30:06,749Like the frog many creatures are primed
205
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30:06,958 -- 00:30:10,082for the good times
that are about to unfold
206
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30:13,291 -- 00:30:15,832Alerted by an ancient program
in their minds
207
00:
30:16,041 -- 00:30:19,332Egrets arrive
and take up feeding positions
208
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30:19,541 -- 00:30:23,874Fish have already started reproducing
in streams that until a week ago
209
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30:24,083 -- 00:30:26,957were tracks of dry sand
210
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30:46,416 -- 00:30:50,415Thousands of waterbirds join in a frenzy
of feeding and breeding
211
00:
30:50,625 -- 00:30:54,332that may happen only once
or twice in a decade
212
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31:36,458 -- 00:31:41,499Briefly the desert blossoms
in a colourful tide of new life
213
00:
31:54,833 -- 00:32:00,582One of the few large predators in this
land also participates in the bonanza
214
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32:03,833 -- 00:32:06,040Australia's wild dog the dingo
215
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32:06,250 -- 00:32:10,582arrived from nearby Asia about
216
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32:15,583 -- 00:32:19,332lts pups will feed on the plentiful
supply of rodents and reptiles
217
00:
32:19,541 -- 00:32:23,499that are also multiplying
in the abundant conditions
218
00:
32:47,791 -- 00:32:49,332Tens of thousands of pelicans
219
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32:49,541 -- 00:32:53,874are drawn by the
irresistible call of inland water
220
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32:54,333 -- 00:32:57,374Responding to reflections far away
in the sky
221
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32:57,583 -- 00:33:04,082the birds fly hundreds of miles to gather
on the shores of newly filled desert lakes
222
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33:14,958 -- 00:33:17,624With more than
223
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33:17,833 -- 00:33:21,290colonies of this size are a rare event
224
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34:05,166 -- 00:34:08,332Pelicans normally breed in small
scattered communities
225
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34:08,541 -- 00:34:11,290producing one chick a year
226
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34:14,958 -- 00:34:18,499Here they'll produce five
or more in quick succession
227
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34:18,708 -- 00:34:23,707and go on doing so
as long as the food supply lasts
228
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34:34,625 -- 00:34:36,082Millions of years ago
229
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34:36,291 -- 00:34:41,540pelicans were breeding in the vast lake
system that covered much of the interior
230
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34:47,958 -- 00:34:53,540Ancestral knowledge seems to draw them
back to their primeval home range
231
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35:18,625 -- 00:35:23,707The water ends its longjourney at the
centre of the continent in Lake Eyre
232
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35:37,791 -- 00:35:39,707233
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35:39,916 -- 00:35:44,332of the continent drains into the
world's largest dry salt lake
234
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35:44,541 -- 00:35:48,665lt fills completely only about
twice a century
235
00:
36:26,875 -- 00:36:30,415lnevitably the flow of water stops
236
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36:36,416 -- 00:36:40,749The earth and blasting sun suck away
at the stagnant pools where life
237
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36:40,958 -- 00:36:44,665newly born there is on borrowed time
238
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36:54,166 -- 00:36:55,832Trapped by receding waters
239
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36:56,041 -- 00:37:00,457some of these fish will provide a final
feast for the birds
240
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37:05,833 -- 00:37:09,249Millions more
will return to the mud of the riverbed
241
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37:09,458 -- 00:37:12,582enriching it for the next generation
242
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37:24,333 -- 00:37:26,040With their food supply running low
243
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37:26,250 -- 00:37:29,915become nomads once more
244
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37:30,125 -- 00:37:35,124
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"Australia: Land Beyond Time" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 Sep. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/australia:_land_beyond_time_3285>.
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